As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Memory is a key feature of an information handling system. As time and technology progress, information handling system memory continues to increase in size. More memory allows a user to run larger programs and store larger pieces of information.
During the initialization of the information handling system, a basic input/output system (BIOS) executes a power-on self-test (POST) routine that tests the memory's stability and integrity. After the POST routine is completed, the operating system is loaded and the system is ready for use.
The amount of time it takes to test the memory in an information handling system is typically a linear function based on the size of the memory to test. As the amount of system memory increases, the amount of time for memory testing increases proportionally.
Memory testing with conventional methods has the disadvantage of taking too much time. As the amount of memory increases, the delay before an operating system loads increases. This delay may push the total POST time beyond acceptable time limits because users desire quick boot times and find long boot times inconvenient. In addition, slow boot times reflect negatively on the information handling system as a whole. Also, software developers desire minimal boot times and provide incentives for information handling system manufacturers that have favorable boot times.